With the increasing pursuit of healthy eating by consumers, fruit juice drinks, as nutritious and fresh tasting beverages, have been favored by a large number of consumers. The production lines of longan and lychee juice beverages have become popular in the juice beverage industry due to their high efficiency and automation. This article will provide a detailed introduction to the process flow and equipment configuration of the fully automated juice beverage production line.

Longan/Litchi Processing Line Description

Longan and litchi fruit are widely cultivated in southern China, Southeast Asia and South Asia, they contain a core, pulp and peel. Among them, the fruit pulp is about 50%, the fruit core is about 40%, and the fruit peel is about 10%.
Longan fruit is rich in nutrients and is a famous tropical characteristic fruit for both food and medicine.. It has the functions of lowering blood sugar, enhancing immunity, anti-oxidation and anti-aging. Apart from its great taste, litchi pulp has been found to be rich in nutrients including vitamin C, polysaccharides and many types of minerals
Fresh longan and litchi fruits are prone to spoilage, discoloration, short shelf life, and are difficult to store, transport and keep fresh. Therefore, there is a great demand for longan and litchi processing equipment in the market. Currently, the main processing methods of litchi and longan are drying, juice making, canning and fermentation to make into dried fruit, juice, fruit wine or fruit vinegar and canned products. The litchi/longan processing line is mainly composed of longan and lychee washing machine, selection machine, longan and lychee peeling and pitting machine, longan or lychee meat dryer, longan and lychee pulp beating machine, juice enzymatic clarification equipment, homogenization, sterilization and filling Equipment.
The capacity of longantchi processing equipment ranges from 20T/D to 500T/D for customers to choose from. And the end products can be filled into bottles, pouches, metal cans or cartons.
The material of the litchi/ longan processing machine is made of food-grade SUS304 material, which can guarantee to produce premium quality end products.
The whole longantchi processing line is fully automatic and controlled by PLC, with the feature of high automation, high efficiency.
The production line equipment is specially designed and customized according to the characteristics of litchi and longan, high yield rate and energy saving.
Longan/Litchi Processing Line End Products and Package
Dry litchi/longan pulp: Fresh litchi or longan through washing, sorting, peeling and pitting process, then use the belt dryer or heat pump dryer to dry the fruit pulp from 70%-80% moisture to less than 18% and have a very high sugar content of 60◦–65◦Brix. Then the end products can be filled into pouches or plastic jars. The drying temperature is recommended with 70◦–80◦C with 40–48 hours drying period for producing high-quality dried longan or litchi.

Litchi/Longan juice: longan or Lychee juice has large amounts of sugars, acids, vitamins, minerals and aroma compounds. The single-strength juice(15Brix) or concentrated juice(60Brix) can be produced, and the end juice can be filled into aseptic bags, bottles, cans or aseptic cartons.

Canned litchi/longan products: Fresh litchi or longan after washing, grading, peeling and pitting, then filled into the fruit pulp into metal cans with syrup.

The process flow of the fully automatic longan/lychee juice beverage production line mainly includes raw material processing, juice extraction, blending, sterilization, filling, and packaging.

Firstly, the raw material processing stage. Fresh fruits undergo strict screening and cleaning to remove dirt and pesticide residues from the skin. After cleaning, enter the crusher for crushing treatment to separate the fruit pulp and longan/lychee juice. The crushed fruit pulp is further pressed by a press machine to extract more longan/lychee juice.

The next step is the juice extraction process. The crushed and pressed fruit pulp enters the juicer, where it is pressed into a pulp by high-speed rotating blades and rollers, and separated into longan/lychee juice and fruit residue. Longan/lychee juice is filtered through a filter to remove suspended solids and impurities, improving the clarity and taste of longan/lychee juice.

After juicing, enter the blending process. According to the formula requirements of the product, mix the extracted longan/lychee juice with other ingredients such as sugar, water, etc. Automated mixing equipment can ensure accurate proportions of various components while avoiding errors in manual operation. After blending, the longan/lychee juice needs to be homogenized to further break down the small flesh particles in the juice and maintain its uniform turbidity.

Next is the sterilization process. In order to ensure the safety and hygiene of longan/lychee juice, high-temperature instantaneous sterilization technology is used to sterilize the prepared longan/lychee juice. After sterilization, the longan/lychee juice needs to be quickly cooled to a suitable temperature to maintain the taste and nutritional content of the longan/lychee juice.

The next step is the filling process. The filling machine adopts aseptic filling technology to quickly and accurately pour sterilized longan/lychee juice into pre prepared packaging containers. At the same time, in order to ensure the cleanliness of the product, a three in one or four in one machine can be used to achieve integrated operations of disinfection, flushing, filling, and sealing.

Finally, there is the packaging process. After being sealed, the filled longan/lychee juice enters the packaging equipment. Packaging equipment includes packing machines, palletizing machines, etc., used for packaging and palletizing longan/lychee juice, facilitating subsequent transportation and sales.

Equipment configuration

The equipment configuration of the fully automatic longan/lychee juice beverage production line mainly includes raw material processing equipment, juice extraction equipment, blending equipment, sterilization equipment, filling equipment, and packaging equipment.

Raw material processing equipment includes cleaning machines, crushers, and presses, which are used for cleaning, crushing, and pressing raw materials. The juicing equipment adopts an efficient juicer, which can press the fruit pulp into a pulp and separate the longan/lychee juice and fruit residue. The blending equipment includes mixers and homogenizers, which can ensure the accurate proportion of various ingredients and maintain the uniform turbidity of longan/lychee juice. The sterilization equipment adopts high-temperature instantaneous sterilization technology to sterilize longan/lychee juice, ensuring the safety and hygiene of the product. The filling equipment adopts aseptic filling technology to quickly and accurately pour sterilized longan/lychee juice into the packaging container. Packaging equipment includes packing machines, palletizing machines, etc., used for packaging and palletizing longan/lychee juice.

In addition, in order to improve production efficiency and product quality, some auxiliary equipment can be configured, such as drying machines, lamp inspection machines, labeling machines, coding machines, and packaging machines. These devices can automatically complete the packaging and labeling of longan/lychee juice, improving the aesthetics and traceability of the product.

The fully automatic longan/lychee juice beverage production line provides a new solution for the longan/lychee juice beverage production industry with its high efficiency and automation characteristics. Through scientific process flow and advanced equipment configuration, efficient production and high-quality output of longan/lychee juice beverages can be achieved, meeting consumers’ demand for healthy diet. With the continuous advancement of technology and the continuous development of the market, we believe that the fully automatic longan/lychee juice beverage production line will play a more important role in the future.